Interpreters play a vital and complex role in facilitating the relationship between mental health consumers and key stakeholders. Khin Myo Myint is an accredited interpreter for the Burmese community living in Perth and sees her role as helping mental health consumers communicate with teachers, police, counsellors, doctors and other medical professionals.

Her interpreting services are in constant demand because of the growing number of Burmese resettling in Perth. The Burmese have been forced to flee their country because of the ongoing conflict there, Khin explained.

“Many of these new migrants have suffered a lot,” Khin said. “They have gone through many hardships. They are torture and trauma survivors.”

Therefore interpreters need to be highly sensitive towards this group and ensure accredited professional interpreters are always used, she highlighted. Khin stressed that consumers could notice the difference when untrained interpreters were used.

“When they use professional interpreters like myself, who stick to the professional standards, they know they can rely on us,” Khin guaranteed. “They can trust us because they know we’ve been trained in meeting certain professional standards [in our work].”

Khin is very passionate about her work and wants to spread the message that services should only rely on professionally trained accredited interpreters.

“I see a problem where some community services are cost-cutting and not using accredited trained interpreters,” Khin explained. “Some community services are using a lot more in-house bilingual staff. But, without the proper training you can’t rely on the services of these so-called ‘interpreters’.”

Khin also works at the Interpreter Program at Central TAFE in Western Australia. The TAFE offers a series of professional interpreting courses including one that focuses on mental health, she explained.

Without proper training there are major discrepancies in the quality of interpretation, Khin pointed out. “If you go through these courses you’re aware of how to be professional in any circumstance.

“With mental health interpreting there are times where the doctor will be interviewing clients for assessment and that is very different to treatment interviews. [As interpreters] we have to know when the doctor or psychologist is going to assess the consumer. If we are briefed about that, then we can be a lot more reliable.”

Khin expressed her concern about some families relying on relatives to interpret during such circumstances. “A child has no idea. It’s a big problem to bring in your husband or a close relative to interpret for you because they have jaded views about the consultation. You cannot expect them to reflect exactly what’s said [by the doctor],” she explained.

There is even a short course for interpreters in medical terminology, Khin stated. This course provides interpreters with the skills to better understanding the medical terms they may have to interpret.

Khin warned that family members would not only have a lack of understanding of such medical terms, but would have a personal emotional connection to the situation. They would be unreliable, she stated firmly.

Professional interpreters also cannot be partial to any interview, Khin explained. “We can have empathy, but not sympathy or opinions of our own. We have to truly reflect the message that’s sent between the professional and the consumer,” Khin said.

“Sometimes it’s unavoidable and if we feel we’re affected by the communication between these two sides, we have to let them know.”

In addition to meeting these professional standards, Khin has also managed to forge a very good rapport with most of the mental health professionals she has worked with. “They have used my services and know that they can trust me,” she said. “It’s really good. They even refer me to their colleagues.”

But Khin stressed that despite her good working relationship with these health professionals, she would never show it to the consumers. “It is important that the consumers do not see interpreters as part of the health system.”

Khin also stressed that services should not assume interpreters are cultural experts. “Interpreters don’t want to be and should not be seen as cultural experts. We are not,” Khin stated. “We can verify certain broad cultural aspects. But trained interpreters cannot just determine what is common to our culture.

“We are just the conduits for the communication between the two parties,” Khin reiterated. “We have to be totally impartial and accurate. We can't divulge information regarding the patient even if we know them.”

With those standards in place and as the local Burmese community continues to grow in Perth, Khin is adamant that she will continue to meet the demands of her work at the highest level.